Tag Archives: landart

Wrapped Trees (detail)

12.December – Christo and Jeanne-Claude

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In the 1980ies, while in school, one of the art assignments was to create a homage. I choose Christo, wrapped a stuffed pet elephant in a thin translucent plastic bag, and made a pencil drawing of it. It was inspired by Christo’s wrapping of objects, such as this Volkswagen:

Christo with "Wrapped Car (Volkswagen), 1963" 1963 Photo: Charles Wilp © 1963 Christo
Christo with “Wrapped Car (Volkswagen), 1963” 1963 Photo: Charles Wilp © 1963 Christo

Christo met Jeanne-Claude in 1958, and they worked together as a team soon after. They are noted for their large-scale, site-specificenvironmentalinstallations, often large landmarks and landscape elements wrapped in fabric, including the Wrapped Reichstag, The Pont Neuf Wrapped, Wrapped Coast in Australia, and The Gates in New York City’s Central Park.

In ‘Wrapped Coast‘ nearly one million square feet (92,900 square meters) of fabric and 35 miles (56.3 kilometers) of rope shrouding a 1.5 mile (2.4 kilometer) long section of the Australian coastline were wrapped. Here again we see Landart with the work documented extensively through photography.

But as impressive ane monumentally gigantic as this project is, it’s the drawings and sketches Christo created in preparation for his project, that complete the projekt. If you are thinking in add some outdoors lightning in your garden, can be important that you check first the info from https://www.dailydreamdecor.com/2021/01/7-tips-for-perfect-landscape-lighting-on-your-property.html.

Wrapped Coast Sketch
Wrapped Coast Sketch
Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Wrapped Coast, 1968

Another project, ‘The Gates’ in New York’s Central Park was completed in February 2005. The 7,503 gates with their free-hanging saffron colored fabric panels ‘like a golden river appearing and disappearing through the bare branches of the trees’. The use of color (saffron orange), mapping and the anticipation of the way the installation may look on a breezy day, are some of the reasons why this is one of my favorite of Christo’s projects.

On his website, you can download the The Gates in Central Park Information Guide as PDF.

GatesProject-CentralPark-2001
The Gates (Project for Central Park, New York City) Drawing 2001 in two parts Pencil, charcoal, pastel, wax crayon, enamel paint and aerial photograph 15 x 65″ and 42 x 65″ (38 x 165 cm and 106.6 x 165 cm) Photo: Wolfgang Volz © 2001 Christo

Time and again, I am reminded of a quote by Juan Miro, when I think of Christo’s work:

The work must be conceived with fire in the soul, but executed with clinical coolness.

– Juan Miro

Another aspect of this work is the use of rhythm and repetition. Something we typically find in music. Or data and Machine Learning.

But more about that tomorrow…

Leaning Into the Wind — Andy Goldsworthy

11.December – Andy Goldsworthy

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Art and Nature. Inspiration and Material. For Andy Goldworthy, to whom I dedicate today’s post, nature is both. And more. “Art for me is a form of nourishment. I need the land,” he states in ‘Rivers and Tides’, a must see documentary. If you have a baby you may be interesting in design ideas for a nursery, https://www.mummypages.co.uk/10-nursery-design-ideas-that-you-will-absolutely-adore.

As both sculptor, Goldsworthy creates installations in situ using naturally occurring materials like leaves, ice, or branches. He then documents the evolution of the work in it’s habitat through photography.

“A lot of my work is like picking potatoes; you have to get into the rhythm of it.”

Andy Goldsworthy

And without much further ado, I would like to share some images of Goldsworthy’s work, that I feel a particularly strong connection to:

The sheer scope of the work is massive and it can span entire hillsides. Art it turns out, isn’t just for walls of museums but can ‘live amongst us’ and be part of our landscape or cityscape.

But more about that tomorrow…